S.D. Section boys tennis championships

On the eve of the San Diego Section boys tennis finals, the player who would clinch the first championship ever for Coronado High worked on his game. His golf game, that is.

Sophomore Charlie Rowe became a two-sport athlete in the spring for the Islanders this year, so he followed the tennis team’s semifinal victory with some twilight golf practice. Then he came ready at the Barnes Tennis Center on Friday.

In the last set of the match, Rowe completed a singles sweep by the Islanders to overcome top-seeded La Jolla 10-8 for the Division III championship in their second straight final.

“I just had to not get too overwhelmed,” said Rowe, who closed with a 6-2 decision over Jack Hogan. “I stuck to my game plan, which was to not miss, essentially. I knew we could win. First time for Coronado in 53 years (of section play), that’s pretty good.”

Third-seeded Coronado (13-10) prevailed on a day of upset victories. Del Norte won the first crown in its five-year history by topping No. 1 Canyon Crest 10-8 in Division II, and Rancho Bernardo beat No. 1 Torrey Pines in a 9-9 match decided by a tiebreaker (72-65 in games) for the Division I crown.

La Jolla (15-1) led the Islanders 8-7 heading into the last three singles sets in a bid for its third straight section title after moving back to Division III this season. But then Billy Rowe, Charlie’s twin brother, and freshman Ryan Seggerman prevailed to set up the deciding point and help avenge two regular-season losses to the Vikings.

“To have the singles this strong is just incredible,” said Coronado coach David Brummitt, whose squad also received a key doubles win from the team of freshman Gunner Dutch and sophomore Sam McNeal.

No. 2 Del Norte (18-3) prevailed in its first final when junior Peter Trhac completed a personal singles sweep by taking the last four games for a 6-3 win over Evan Sheng.

“I was going to do whatever I had to do to win a point, just dive for it like there was no tomorrow,” Trhac said. “This feels so good. We showed everyone else that we’re a threat, so you better watch out.”

The Nighthawks, who had no seniors in the lineup, shape up as a long-term power with a nucleus that includes three freshmen, including Patrick Trhac, Peter’s brother, and Andy Hu, who had two singles wins.

“We had a lot of incoming talent, and the players already knew each other,” Del Norte coach Cherise Meoli said. “There was camaraderie from the beginning.”

This was the third straight final for Canyon Crest (15-6), which was denied its second title in that span.

No. 2 Rancho Bernardo (20-5) edged the two-time defending champion Falcons (20-2) in the sixth consecutive final between the schools. To force the tiebreaker, the duo of junior Aiku Shintani and sophomore Bryan Fu took their final set 6-2 for the Broncos’ only doubles win.

“I was just pumped to be out here and potentially win,” said Shintani, a two-time section doubles champion. “We had the fire (in the semifinals) and again here.”

Torrey Pines was without singles standout Jacob Brumm, who had a conflict with a juniors tournament. In the regular season, the Falcons won both encounters with Rancho Bernardo.